Every Scream Ghostface, Ranked From Worst to Most Lethal

Ghostface never changes his look, but the person under the mask has always been the point. That’s the fun of Scream: wild motives, rug-pulling reveals, killers who are meticulous one second and total chaos the next. Half the thrill is trying to spot who’s holding the knife, whether you’re watching the original in the ’90s or the newer sequels. Some Ghostfaces rewired the franchise; others were basically a speed bump. Here’s where they all land for me, from the ones who showed up to the ones who made the walls shake.

1. Jason Carvey — Scream 6 (played by Tony Revolori; kill count: 1)

   He’s the warm-up act in a crowded movie. Jason kills Laura Crane (Samara Weaving’s film professor), talks a big game about finishing what Richie started, and coordinates a massacre plan with his roommate… and then gets completely outplayed by the real villains. Blink and you miss him, which is kind of the problem.

2. Charlie Walker — Scream 4 (played by Rory Culkin; kill count: 3)

   Charlie is less a driver and more a decoy. He’s mainly there to lure a victim, his kills feel sloppy, and his partner turns on him almost immediately. Motive is mushy, presence is thin, and the mask barely has time to cool before he’s off the board.

3. Ethan Bailey — Scream 6 (played by Jack Champion; kill count: unconfirmed)

   In a multi-Ghostface free-for-all, Ethan gets lost in the shuffle. The movie muddies who commits which kill, so he never carves out a clear identity or signature move. When the dust settles, he’s the one you forget was even in the mix.

4. Debbie Loomis — Scream 2 (played by Laurie Metcalf; kill count: 1)

   Billy’s mom stepping in out of grief and revenge is a neat legacy hook, and she’s certainly committed. But compared to the franchise’s most magnetic maniacs, she lacks that chilling charisma or unpredictability that sticks to your brain long after the credits.

5. Quinn Bailey — Scream 6 (played by Liana Liberato; kill count: 1)

   Ethan’s sister stages her own death, manipulates a crime scene, and stays cold all the way to the end. The issue: the motivation is straight revenge, which, by movie six, is pretty thin gruel. She’s efficient, not electrifying.

6. Detective Bailey — Scream 6 (played by Dermot Mulroney; kill count: 3)

   The power-play angle is juicy: the mastermind is a cop, and he’s obsessed enough to build a shrine to Ghostface. That’s genuinely unnerving, and the late reveal works. As a hands-on killer, though, he feels less personal and more like the guy signing off on the plan from the office.

7. Mickey Altieri — Scream 2 (played by Timothy Olyphant; kill count: 5)

   Mickey is a hype beast for murder: narcissistic, meta, and disturbingly detached. He racks up bodies and leaves an impression even with someone else pulling strings. His downfall is his own overcooked motive — it’s big, loud, and not especially coherent — but the presence is there.

8. Richie Kirsch — Scream (2022) (played by Jack Quaid; kill count: 2)

   Richie is the ultimate soft-boy trap: disarming, trustworthy, and quietly rotten. His plan is both funny and horrifying, a fanboy’s manifesto to correct the franchise.

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   That twist reorients the series in a slick way. He’s just missing that last jolt that turns a very good villain into a capital-G Great one.

9. Amber Freeman — Scream (2022) (played by Mikey Madison; kill count: 4)

   Pure volatility. Amber goes for legacy scalps, never hesitates, and seems to run on lighter fluid and bad decisions. She’s the kind of Ghostface who makes you tense up because there’s no telling when she’ll swing or how far she’ll push it. Nasty, memorable work.

10. Stu Macher — Scream (played by Matthew Lillard; kill count: 4)

    Stu is chaos with a grin. He’s not in it for grief or fame — he’s in it because the game is fun. That weird tonal cocktail of goofy and terrifying is why he still pops in your head decades later. And yes, that unhinged energy is exactly why he’s confirmed to be back for Scream 7.

11. Jill Roberts — Scream 4 (played by Emma Roberts; kill count: 7)

    Jill’s ambition is ice-cold. She wants fame, now, and she wants it her way — including eliminating her partner and positioning herself as the new Sidney Prescott.

    One of the biggest body counts in the series plus a perfectly nasty motive makes her a top-tier Ghostface: calculated, timely, and terrifyingly self-absorbed.

12. Roman Bridger — Scream 3 (played by Scott Foley; kill count: 9)

    The lone-wolf killer who secretly engineered the original mayhem. Roman not only carries the third film solo, he rewrites the entire saga by revealing he nudged Billy into his first spree. Even if Scream 3 isn’t everyone’s favorite entry, Roman’s reach and psychological sting are huge.

13. Billy Loomis — Scream (played by Skeet Ulrich; kill count: 3)

    The blueprint. Billy’s jealousy and revenge are painfully human, which makes his manipulations land even harder. He sets the tone for everything that follows: cold, calculating, relentless. Stu’s antics are iconic, but Billy is the spine of Ghostface — the betrayal you never quite get over.

Who’s your favorite under the mask?

The Scream films are streaming on Max and Paramount+.